Florence or La Spezia?

La Spezia is the place for swimming. Its town waterfront is a port, but the sheltered sand and pebble at San Terenzo and Lerici, the coves at Fiascherino and Tellaro, and the rocky spots around Portovenere and Palmaria are all close by. Expect small beaches, a lot of pebble and many paid bathing establishments.

Florence is inland. Its nearest beaches are the lounger-lined sands of the Versilia, about an hour and a half away by train, so most visitors there cool off in a pool instead.

Florence is the stronger place to eat, and its cooking is heavier: thick bistecca, bread soups, lampredotto from the carts, and Chianti reds from vineyards just south of town. The Mercato Centrale, Sant'Ambrogio and the Oltrarno trattorie give you plenty of choice.

La Spezia cooks from the sea and the hills of Liguria. Farinata, mussels from the gulf, pesto on trofie and crisp Cinque Terre whites are good, honest food, but the range is that of a provincial port, with little fine dining.

On sightseeing the gap is wide. Florence is where the Renaissance took shape, and its centre holds Botticelli, Michelangelo's David, the frescoes of San Marco and the Brancacci Chapel, all within a short walk of each other.

La Spezia is a nineteenth-century naval town of arcaded avenues. The Museo Amedeo Lia's early Italian paintings and the prehistoric stele statues in the Castello San Giorgio are worth a day, but most of the area's history lies along the coast.

Neither city is for dancing until dawn, but Florence has more going on. Piazza Santo Spirito fills on warm nights, a large student crowd keeps some pubs loud, and summer brings bars along the Arno and in the parks.

La Spezia has an aperitivo along Via del Prione and the seafront, and in summer the crowd moves to the waterfront at Lerici. After that the town goes quiet, and most visitors turn in early ahead of a morning on the trails.

La Spezia has the more dramatic landscape. The terraced cliffs of the Cinque Terre national park, the ridge paths above the Sentiero Azzurro, the loop round Palmaria and the pine woods of Montemarcello are all close, and there is kayaking and diving in the gulf.

Florence's countryside is gentler and more cultivated: olive terraces at Fiesole, the cypress-lined lanes and vineyards of Chianti for cycling, and the beech forests of the Casentino further out. The Apuan Alps are within reach of both.

Both cities make excellent bases, and Florence has the edge. From Florence you can reach Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano and the Chianti villages, and Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train, enough for a week of day trips without repeating yourself.

La Spezia's day trips are mostly coastal. The Cinque Terre villages are minutes away by train, and Portovenere is a short boat ride. Walled Sarzana and Roman Luni lie inland, and Pisa and Lucca are about an hour away, as they are from Florence.

For families the two come out about even, but the days look different. In Florence children enjoy climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio, the globes at the Museo Galileo and running in the Boboli, with the Pinocchio park at Collodi as an outing. The narrow pavements and summer heat wear them down, though.

La Spezia's flat seafront is easy with a pushchair, and the best days are on the water, with boat trips round the islands and the shallow beaches at San Terenzo. The steep villages and long walks suit older children better.

Florence is slightly easier, because the things you came to see are right there. The Duomo, the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Pitti Palace are all within about twenty minutes of each other on foot, trams run to the airport, and Santa Maria Novella station is in the centre.

La Spezia's own centre is flat and walkable, but most of what you came for lies outside it, so you'll take trains, buses or ferries most days. Those coastal trains get crowded in summer. In both places a car is more of a nuisance than a help.

Florence is a real shopping city, built on old crafts: leather, marbled paper, the jewellers of the Ponte Vecchio and the restorers and gilders of the Oltrarno, plus the fashion houses of Via de' Tornabuoni and the antique dealers of Via Maggio.

La Spezia offers ordinary provincial shopping, with chains and a few boutiques on Via del Prione. The things worth taking home are pesto, olive oil, Sciacchetrà and marble pieces from nearby Carrara.

La Spezia is the easier city on the budget. Rooms cost less than in the Cinque Terre villages, and the trains and buses are inexpensive, although trail passes, boat trips and bathing establishments add up over a stay.

Florence's centre hotels are expensive, and the admission fees at the big museums and the Duomo quickly add up. Street food, market lunches and walking everywhere save money, and staying across the river or visiting in winter helps most.

Florence has the far richer evening programme. Opera was more or less born here, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino runs a full season of opera, concerts and ballet, and the spring festival is one of Europe's oldest. The church concerts that many visitors attend are pleasant but staged for tourists.

La Spezia has the Teatro Civico, a long-established summer jazz festival and open-air concerts in castle courtyards around the gulf. Outside summer there is little on, and for opera you would go to Genoa or Pisa.

Neither city has a bathing tradition within its own streets, but Florence is better placed for a spa day. Montecatini Terme, with its grand old thermal halls, is under an hour by train, and the outdoor sulphur pools of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia make a longer outing.

La Spezia's nearest thermal baths are the small ones at Equi Terme, an hour inland. What it offers instead is a slower pace, such as a long lunch in Tellaro or a quiet afternoon on Palmaria outside the summer crowds.